Suddenly, the old wardrobe began to shake.
Lupin, expecting this familiar scene to frighten the students, was surprised to see them all remain calm. This puzzled him.
With a composed tone, he explained, "There's no need to be afraid. Inside is a Boggart."
After speaking, he looked around the room and asked, "Can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?"
The chance to earn points had arrived. Two hands shot up simultaneously.
Lupin glanced over. Naturally, one was the ever-knowledgeable Hermione, and the other was John.
After a brief moment of thought, Lupin called on, "Miss Granger."
Hermione beamed with delight and quickly responded, "Boggarts like dark and confined spaces. They usually hide in wardrobes, gaps under beds, or cupboards under sinks."
"A Boggart is a shape-shifter," she continued confidently, "It transforms into whatever it thinks will frighten us the most."
"I couldn't have explained it better myself," Professor Lupin praised, which made Hermione, who always worked hard in class, positively glow with pride.
Lupin then approached the trembling wardrobe and continued, "So the Boggart inside this dark cabinet doesn't have a fixed shape yet. It doesn't know what the people outside fear, and no one knows what a Boggart looks like when it's alone."
At this point, John couldn't help but smirk.
He had some authority on the subject because he knew exactly what a Boggart looked like. Through his own research, John had learned that if you used Occlumency to shield your mind, the Boggart wouldn't be able to see into it. If you also used a Disillusionment Charm, the Boggart wouldn't even know you were there.
Once, he'd spent time with a Boggart in a wardrobe, observing the formless black cloud it resembled when it couldn't figure out what to transform into—just a mass of swirling black smoke.
Meanwhile, Professor Lupin continued his explanation.
He tapped the wardrobe with his wand and said, "The moment I let it out, it will immediately turn into the thing each of us fears the most."
"But that means we have a significant advantage over the Boggart," Lupin added, looking around.
Hermione, standing on her tiptoes, raised her hand high, and John also raised his. But Lupin glanced at a pair of familiar green eyes and decided to call on Harry instead. "Harry, have you realized what that advantage is?" Lupin asked.
"Ah!" Harry, caught off guard like a student who'd been daydreaming and suddenly called on in math class, hesitated. Glancing nervously at Hermione, he tentatively answered, "Uh... because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape to take?"
You had to hand it to Harry—he had the instincts of a born Auror.
His intuition was spot-on, and he nailed the key point right away.
"Exactly right!" Lupin praised loudly.
Hermione, looking a little disappointed, lowered her hand. John also lowered his, quietly observing Lupin.
'You cheeky boy, I'll dock your pay when you get back,' John thought to himself.
Of course, that was assuming Lupin would ever go back to work. Lupin, clearly pleased with his old friend's son's performance, gave the wardrobe a casual pat and said, "I once encountered a Boggart that tried to scare two people at once. It ended up turning into half a slug—not scary at all."
"The spell to repel a Boggart is quite simple, but it requires strong willpower," Lupin explained, his face breaking into a smile as he added, "Remember, the real way to defeat a Boggart is laughter. What we need is to force it into a form you find hilarious."
Raising his wand, Lupin stepped forward to begin teaching. "Now, pick up your wands, and let's practice the incantation. Repeat after me... 'Riddikulus!'"
The students quickly realized this professor was a vast improvement over the last two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. Their enthusiasm surged as they shouted, "Riddikulus!"
"Excellent, very good! Now, that was the easy part. But remember, just saying the spell won't be enough. Laughter—that's what will truly defeat the Boggart. Neville, it's your turn."
Suddenly hearing his name, Neville, with his pointy chin and bewildered expression, stepped forward. He looked nervous, though not outright scared.
"Very good, Neville." Lupin had initially expected the boy to be scared, but now it seemed the son of the Longbottoms wasn't as much of a coward as he'd thought.
Standing beside Neville, Lupin asked gently, "Neville, what are you most afraid of in this world?"
Neville's lips quivered slightly as he glanced toward John's direction, before whispering, "Professor Snape."
Professor Lupin couldn't help but chuckle. Snape's popularity really was that bad.
Actually, Neville had wanted to say "John" too, but seeing John staring directly at him, he wisely chose to only mention one person. If John ever found out that the boy was scared of him, he'd undoubtedly double his training sessions.
Just imagine—John stepping out of the wardrobe. The sheer embarrassment of that moment would be enough to get Neville thoroughly beaten.
The rest of the students burst into laughter when they heard Neville was afraid of Snape. After all, Snape's reputation wasn't exactly stellar.
John noticed a few Slytherin students laughing too, and he thought to himself, 'You lot really have a death wish.'
Lupin, meanwhile, told Neville to imagine his grandmother's eccentric attire. He, too, had a bit of a mischievous streak. As a former member of the Marauders, Lupin might not have been as wild as the other three, but he certainly had the typical Gryffindor spirit that thrived on daring.
With a flick of his wand, Lupin remotely opened the wardrobe. The rattling ceased, and soon after, a hand pushed open the door.
John, watching this unfold, couldn't help but think to himself, Good grief, Professor Snape has come out of the closet.
"..."
Out stepped a figure that wasn't just close to Snape—it practically was Snape. He loomed like a bat, glaring menacingly at Neville.
Gulp!
Despite his training and newfound courage, Neville couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear. Still, he raised his wand and pointed it at the figure.
"Riddikulus!"
The moment the Boggart-turned-Snape took a step, his clothing transformed into an outrageously bright red-and-green dress. The sight was enough to make the entire class erupt into laughter. John even caught Draco Malfoy snickering.
Professor Lupin laughed the loudest.
Seizing the opportunity while the Boggart was momentarily disoriented, he waved his hand and called out, "Parvati, you're up next!"
With the first transformation setting the tone, everyone felt more confident. They eagerly stepped forward one by one to test themselves against the Boggart, which kept shifting into different forms.
The poor creature became the subject of endless ridicule.
Each student took a turn. When it was Ron's turn, predictably, the Boggart turned into a massive spider. With a quick incantation, Ron made the spider's legs vanish, leaving it to roll around on the floor helplessly. Eventually, it tumbled over to Harry's feet.
Harry was about to deal with it when the Boggart began to change again. Just as it was about to take shape, Lupin dashed forward in an instant, intercepting it.
"Harry!"
The Boggart immediately transformed into a silvery-white orb that floated in front of him.
But shortly after, the silver ball that Lupin had turned into a balloon floated toward John.
When it reached John, the balloon hesitated, and the Boggart quickly began to shift. As everyone wondered what John might fear, they were stunned to see the Boggart spiraling out of control, changing frantically.
It cycled through all the forms it had previously taken before finally settling into something unrecognizable.
"This..."
Everyone, including Professor Lupin, was left speechless. Lupin, in particular, had never seen a Boggart react like this.
A sudden thought popped into John's mind: What would happen if he imagined the Boggart's true form? Even Lupin had never seen its original shape. John didn't mind giving everyone a glimpse.
He began to visualize the Boggart's true form in his mind. The Boggart's chaotic shifting stilled for a moment.
Then, in a flash, it darted back into the old wardrobe and slammed the door shut, locking itself inside.
The entire room was left dumbfounded. Why had the Boggart retreated on its own?
John, was in deep in thought 'Looks like even a Boggart, capable of probing others' fears, can't bear to face its true self.'
He looked up at Lupin, silently asking, So, how do we score that?
Lupin was equally puzzled. How could they call that a failure when the Boggart had scared itself and fled?
But if they were to call it a success, John hadn't even used his wand.
Lupin was stuck in a dilemma, though the class soon ended, sparing him from having to decide. He awarded Gryffindor five points, with Hermione, Harry, and Neville all receiving additional points.
After assigning homework—an essay on Boggarts—Malfoy loudly began to conspire with his fellow Slytherins, claiming that Lupin was blatantly biased toward Gryffindor. He grumbled that even when John raised his hand, Lupin deliberately ignored him, giving all the credit to the Gryffindors.
This sparked agreement among the Slytherins, who felt that John had clearly been the most outstanding in the class.
While they were busy being indignant on his behalf, John's mind was elsewhere.
"Boggarts peer into the depths of one's heart, while Dementors suck out souls and happiness. What if I combined the two...?"
His eyes gleamed with excitement, as if he had stumbled upon a new idea. He felt he might have found a method worth trying.
___________
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